Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The NBA's All Star Weekend went down in L.A. this year (and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't partake in any of the festivities, though I did watch). There was plenty of action and excitement to last all week or at least until the Heat play the Bulls (shall Chicago own the season series? I think so!). But back to All Star. My first question is what happened to the H.O.R.S.E. contest? (The second is ) Anyways, here's a rundown of what went down:

FridayThe first event, the celebrity bball game, was won by the east. The western team was made up of Trey Songz, Romeo Miller, Justin Bieber, Jalen Rose, Rob Kardashian, Swin Cash.The eastern team was made up of Scottie Pippen, Nick Cannon, Michael Rapaport, Chris Mullin, Tamika Catchings and Common.

The rookies walked away with the win in the T-Mobile rookie challenge. The second straight year the rookies beat the sophmores. (check!)John Wall won MVP and set the record for most assist in the game with 22.The rookie team was composed of John Wall, Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, Landry Fields, Wesley Johnson, Eric Bledsoe, Gary Neal, and Greg Monroe.The sophmore team was composed of Stephen Curry, Brandon Jennings, Taj Gibson, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Wesley Matthews, and DeJuan Blair.

SaturdayIn the first event of the evening, the Haier Shooting Stars competition, Team Atlanta copped the win with cutie Al Horford hitting the half-court shot in both rounds to seal the deal.

Steph Curry held it down in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, just beating Russell Westbrook. (I was routing for Mr. Rose but he was far to suave to try and outshine his rookie year win)

James Jones took home the trophy for the 3-Point Contest beating all time 3-pt scoring champ Ray Allen.

Blake Griffin topped it all off as the winner of the Dunk Contest. (Although, I think the other players were cheated, especially DeRozan.) Going into the competition I am sure everyone was expecting Griffin to take the cake, but it was actually given to him. Blake's first dunk was astonishing, but the final two were lesser versions of dunks two of the other contestants had just slammed. The whole put-on with the car and the choir was not impressive. However, the fact that the guy has 134 dunks on the season (that's more dunks than games in a NBA season which means he's getting in 2-3 dunks a night since its only midway through the season) is impressive enough to give him the award, he's been puttin on all season. (check!)

SundayThe big Sha-Bang aka the NBA All Star game.In the grand finale, the west brought home the win and Kobe Bryant received a well-deserved MVP award to cap off the weekend. (checkmate!)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Civil rights activist, writer, publisher. Born Daisy Lee Gatson on November 11, 1914, in Huttig, Arkansas. Together with her husband, Bates operated the Arkansas State Press, a weekly African-American newspaper. The paper championed civil rights, and Bates joined in the civil rights movement. She became the president of Arkansas chapt...er of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1952. As the head of the NAACP’s Arkansas branch, Bates played a crucial role in the fight against segregation. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared that school segregation was unconstitutional in the landmark case known as Brown v. Board of Education. Even after that ruling, African American students who tried to enroll in white schools were turned away in Arkansas. Bates and her husband chronicled this battle in their newspaper. In 1957, she helped nine African American students to become the first to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, who became known as the Little Rock Nine. Bates’ home became the headquarters for the battle to integrate Central High School and she served as a personal advocate and supporter to the students. Bates remained close with the Little Rock Nine, offering her continuing support as they faced harassment and intimidation from people against desegregation. Her account of the school integration battle was published as The Long Shadow of Little Rock. For a few years, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Democratic National Committee and on antipoverty projects for the Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. Bates returned to Little Rock in the mid-1960s and spent much of her time on community programs. Bates died on November 4, 1999, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

I was visiting a middle school yesterday and the atmosphere there was quite interesting as it was a sharp contrast to the junior high school environment I endured. There was a strong emphasis on college awareness. The school appeared to be under a rather new curriculum which seemed to be working very well. Everything was pretty much in control and there didn't seem to be many issues with discipline, which was a constant at my alma mater. The faculty and staff are always trying to improve the curriculum and enforce student expectations. As one faculty explained, "our goal is to provide students access to the curriculum and a safe learning environment." I felt that the faculty and staff were really invested in student outcomes and they were very hospitable.

One thing that I took notice of, and is the reason I wrote this post, was a poster on the wall that read:Watch you thoughts, they become words.Watch your words, they become actions.Watch your actions, they become habits.Watch your habits, they become your character.Watch your character, it determines your destiny!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

(All smiles) I had the most amazing time at the Bulls game last night! Might I add that I've been waiting all season for this :) It was beautiful. I really enjoyed myself, and Derrick Rose. lol It was definitely a night to remember. Not only did I have a lot of fun with the fam but the atmosphere in the arena was titillating. We had dinner at Yardhouse before the game, and we were just in time for happy hour. Then, after a wonderful meal, we headed over to the Staples Center to check out the fan gear in their Team LA store. Plus, I got a free Blake Griffin throwback jersey. (As you've probably realized by now the Bulls were playing the Clippers) And we were actually on time for once (I told everyone the game started at 7 cause I know how they are, plus I wanted to watch the team warm up) Anyway, once everyone started pouring in and the game begun, it became obvious that there were a lot more Bulls fans in the crowd than the home team's. The Bulls led the game the entire night and I finally got taste of that D Rose action live. He had a couple fast breaks and some pretty lay-ups, but no dunks :( But I think Blake Griffin made sure to fill the void. I think the best moment came in the second half when Rose started getting MVP chants (I mean this dude even gets MVP chants on the road)! I think I was pretty lucky though as everyone in my section appeared to be Bulls fans and towards the end of the 4th, they even starting chanting "Scalabrine" HaHa. You gotta love it! Oh yeah and even Joakim Noah was there to support his team from the bench. Too bad I couldn't get the dynamic duo that is Rose & Noah, but it's cool. The game happened so fast though. I feel like there's a lot more time to savor the excitement when I'm watching at home. But it was an amazing night all around and I can't wait to do it again. Hopefully the next Bulls game I attend will be at the United Center :)

Derrick's stats for the night: 32 pts, 11 asts, 3 rbs, 1 stl, 1 blk

Here's some video footage of the game. You can even hear the Scalabrine chants and peep Rose score the final bucket. Enjoy!

About Me

UCLA Alumni. Graduate Student. Elementary School Teacher. Social Justice Educator. South Central Native. Derrick Rose aficionado. Not afraid to make mistakes. Cause when I stumble off the path I know my ❥ will guide me back.
Love Fashion, Food, and Film/Photography.
My inspirations are Kimora Lee, Liya Kebede, Zoe Saldana, Meagan Good, Pharrell Williams, KanYe West...
I'm a music fiend! Music is like oxygen to me. I can't live without it!